Value added - USG serves Georgia [Aug. 2007]

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MCG's Kinship Care Program Supporting Non-Parent Caregivers

The Kinship Care Program founded by the School of Nursing at the Medical College of Georgia is providing a lifeline for grandparents and others who find themselves unexpectedly caring for children in parent-absent homes.

Funded by a $50,000 grant from the CSRA Area Agency on Aging, Kinship Care so far has served 110 families in 14 counties in Georgia, providing hands-on services and telephone referrals for issues including health care, housing, food banks and education.

Helen Cavitt of Lincolnton, Ga., is a good example of those who've benefited from the program. Nearly four years ago, she agreed to take in the three children of her troubled niece until the young mother could get back on her feet and find a job and a place to live.
Now 60 years old, Cavitt has been the primary caregiver for 7-year-oldJamaul, 9-yearold Avis and 11-year-old Riccardo ever since. She adopted them in 2004, nearly a year after their mother left them in her care and disappeared.
There were questions Cavitt didn't know she should ask, services she didn't know existed. Her

biggest problem, she said, was finding time to care for herself.
Fortunately, Cavitt was put in touch with Kinship Care, and one of the most valuable things the program has done for her was to enroll her grandchildren in a day camp during the summer months.
"That gave me some peace of mind because I knew where they were every day, and I had a chance to get some rest," she said.

Tiny Library Netting Big Attention for Delivering Services to Athens-Area Hispanics
ASpanish-Englishlibrary operating out of a trailer in the Pinewoods Estate Mobile Home Park off U.S. Highway 29 in Athens has won national recognition for its efforts to provide books, computers and language and reading classes to the area's Hispanic community.
Last month, the Public Library Association chose the humble Pinewood Library and

Community Learning Center, a branch of the Athens Regional Library System, over thousands of other library systems across the country as the recipient of its 2007 Highsmith Library Innovation Award.
Opened in 2005, the Pinewood facility is located in the heart of one of the county's highest concentrations of Hispanic families and has had a big effect on the community, despite its
See "Library," Page 2

VALUE ADDED - USG Servl ts ~ e o r m

Tech Helping Georgia as Nation's Top Producer of African-American Engineers
Georgia Tech has earned a gold star from the magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education for its role in increasing the number of minorities in the field of engineering. The magazine's annual college rankings report rates Tech as the top overall producer of African-American engineers in the United States.
For the 2005-2006 academic year, Georgia Tech was ranked No. 1in undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded to African-Americanstudents with 120 degrees, up from 117 during the 20042005 academic year. Tech was also the No. 1producer of African-American doctoral graduates in engineering with 11graduates, up from 4 the previous academic year.
"Given the growing need in our state and around the nation for talented citizens, we are proud of Tech's role as a national leader in creating and maintaining a supportive educational environment for minority students," said Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough.

SSU Helping High-School Drop Outs to Learn Construction Skills, Earn GEDs
Savannah State University recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a house built from the ground up by youths aged 16 to 24 years old who won a second chance to complete their basic education and learn construction skills.
Funded by a $550,000 grant from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and over $700,000 in local matching

funds and services, Savannah State's Historic Black Colleges and Universities Neighborhood Revitalization Project has the university collaborating with the city of Savannah, Savannah Technical College, St. Mary's Community Center, the Neighborhood Improvement Association and the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum to help youths with no diplomas, no job skills and in some cases criminal records.
Participants receive preparation for the General Education Diploma exam or are enrolled at Savannah Technical College and are eligible for a stipend, which increases as they successfully complete different stages of education and training. The program matches every dollar saved by program graduates at a four-to-one ratio, as long as the money is used for continuing education, to start a business or to purchase a home.
The house, which will be sold to low-income homebuyers, is located in Savannah's CuylerBrownsville Neighborhood, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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small size, said library system Director Kathryn Ames. She notes that many Pinewood residents "have never had any previous public library experience."
Adds the library's director, Miguel Vicente, "For many, it literally is the first time they've ever

sat down in front of a computer and learned how to use them."
Many of the library's after-schooltutors are University of Georgia students.
The library has issued more than 800 library cards, according to Vicente, and about 75 adults enrolled in some form of English education at the facility last year. h